Every relationship, every event, every thought has the power to impact our life in profound ways. The blank page of the moment picks up the hues and colors of the experience. They begin to create the story that we believe of our life. Eventually, these events have an influence on how we react and respond to our present day happenings, relationships and thoughts.

There is no room for judgment here. There is no positive or negative, no right and no wrong. We become conditioned, over time, by these experiences and our reaction to them. The ways in which we decide to choose to move through them, to curtail them, to alter them or to embrace them creates a touchstone for us to reflect on again, when a similar situation occurs.

But this is not to say that if we are unhappy with the patterns that repeat within our life, we can't choose to make a change. Making a change can and often does result in different unfoldings. We have to be aware and ready to catch the moment when we can pause and not automatically react, but instead consider. In that consideration we find we have choices. We recognize that we are conditioned, over time, to react or respond in a certain way, even when we have a deep knowing that it may not result in the way we want it to.

Often our conditioned response comes from a place of unawareness. We are not being fully present and in the moment. We may be going through the motions. We may be revisiting the past and feel rooted in old emotions or fears. Sometimes we are overcome by panic or anger and that fogs our thinking and keeps us distant from our inner truth and knowing.

To break the pattern of our conditioning we need to capture that fleeting moment between repeated experience and repeated response. It is within that in between moment that we can find a new light to bring to the experience. Perhaps a shift in perspective is all we need. Perhaps a leap of faith into an unfamiliar reaction. Perhaps a longer pause, to wait and see how things can unfold differently with a bit more time. In this moment of transition we can find a new way to empower ourself, a new way to heal or a new lesson to embrace. Choosing to break the conditioned response with a response of awareness keeps us present and allows us the opportunity to rewrite a portion of our story.

We are very fortunate to have a life that allows so many possibilities. Nothing is written in stone. If we remember this, we then place ourselves in position to allow new perspectives to be a part of our focus.

Then next time something is occurring in our life that is not going the way we want it too, or the next time we feel we have limited options, we should try shifting our perspective. To keep our vision one sided eliminates so many possibilities. We need to practice stepping away from the view we have a tendency towards and find a new one.

The best way to do this is to become familiar with our focus tendencies. Do we tend to see things in a very linear fashion? Perhaps we like to think about how our decisions will impact others and we get caught up in that. Maybe we are someone who places so much attention in the tiny details that we cannot see the big picture. It is completely normal for most to approach a decision, a task or a problem from a certain angle. There is nothing wrong with any of these view points, unless it is keeping us stuck, struggling or frustrated. Use those signs as red flags!

If we have a red flag waving around, that it is the perfect time to shift perspective. We have potent power in this perspective maneuvering! It actually can become comfortable and feel very positive to stop and pause and explore all the possibilities, instead of jumping right in with our expected knee jerk reaction. Seeing things from new angles strengthens our ability to practice trust, listen to our intuition, and follow our truth.

Doing this often allows a new light to be shed on the situation. It allows us to explore, to use different skills, to engage with different energies. It is not always done without effort, but it does become easier with time. We have great power in within us that can aid in our choices, our decisions, and our efforts. We do not have to do it the same way every time, actually it is best we don't. So the next time we hear our self saying, "This is how I always do this" we need to pause and seek a different point of view. We need to see if approaching the moment with a different perspective changes your outcome, how we feel, what we need or what we do.

Some people spend their days learning more about others than themselves. It is true. For many, it is blindness, avoidance or hesitancy. It is challenging to dig deep and bring our awareness to who we are and why. It is challenging to find our patterns and to question if they serve our higher good or not.

To learn who we really are, beneath the roles and labels placed upon us, beneath other's expectations and even our own, we need to become aware. How do we do this? We pay attention. We listen to the messages of our body, from our soul, and within our heart. We also have to learn to watch ourselves in action, day by day, relationship by relationship and note the patterns to our reactions, the needs we fill, the responses we make and the things we shun.

So much of what we do in life is out of habit. We do it without giving it much thought. For the most part this serves us well. Who wants to give full concentration to putting on our socks or wiping down a counter. But what about the parts of our day that we are on autopilot and we would benefit from bringing more awareness to? Examples would be how we react to our child complaining, the time we spend eating a meal, the critical voices we listen to in our head or the way we receive a compliment.

Habitual behavior and patterns can keep us stuck in life. It is not until we become aware of how they are doing that and decide to change them that we see things begin to shift in our lives. When we make a conscious decision to change and do or approach something differently we alter the energies around us. People may react differently to us. Obstacles seem to move out of the way. We find solutions where we thought there were none.

Change can also be unnerving. The tried and true is comfortable. Doing something new feels risky. We can feel unsettled by the change. That is why being gentle and approaching this slowly, checking in with our self and listening to its needs is important.

With practice and patience we become the author of our story and step aside from the labels and roles that we do not want upon us. We live a life that is authentic to us. We call in our desires and act upon them. We let go of things we no longer identify with and have only been carrying around out of habit. Life becomes freer and feels much more in alignment with our heart and soul's callings.

Yesterday's blog was about the beauty to be found when we dig deeper. When we stop skimming the surface of life and instead take our presence to a whole new level of being. When we do this we often find ourselves exploring and asking questions. These questions then bring abundant information, gifts and lessons to our soul. The open the door to our guides, our heart's longings, our inner truths and our life's essence.

When we explore who we are, why we are and what has brought us to where we are we gain valuable insight. We then can use this information to find our way, to let go of any patterns or behaviors that are keeping us from moving forward and it allows us to expand into our highest calling.

When we ask these questions we bring our willingness to explore our habits and patterns. We begin to understand our beliefs. We can challenge our motives and find our truth. When we ask these meaningful questions and take the time to pause and listen to the authentic answers that rise to the surface and we gain a clearer understanding of who we are. Then we are filled with the knowledge that can be used by us to shift, prune, release, embrace or just BE. We now have the tools to make our wisest decisions with. We now are able to check in with our soul, tap into its messages and combine these with our knowing of who we are and create new energies around this.

It is within these new energies that we are reborn. Everyday we have this beautiful opportunity. We are given the gift of being in the moment, fully present, reborn from any past and able to embrace what we are in; the here and now! When we access these deep resources of who we are we can step into our fullest self. These answers from our body, mind and soul bring our unique essence into vibrant energies that are essential to our authenticity. Possibilities become apparent. Balance can be found. Awareness is awakened. And we see the opportunity for fresh starts and larger thinking. Our potential becomes vibrantly alive.